Attention: This site does not support the current version of your web browser. To get the best possible experience using our website we recommend that you upgrade to a newer version or install another browser

Information about the Person You Are Helping

A helper number is an identification number that allows someone to use FamilySearch.org on behalf of someone else.

People who already have an account on FamilySearch.org can see or edit their helper number in settings.

Note: Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have a default helper access number, which is the last 5 characters of their membership record number. You can use this default number to help Church members who do not have LDS Accounts.

A helper number is an identification number that allows someone to use FamilySearch.org on behalf of someone else.

People who already have an account on FamilySearch.org can see or edit their helper number in settings.

Note: Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have a default helper access number, which is the last 5 characters of their membership record number. You can use this default number to help Church members who do not have LDS Accounts.

A helper number is an identification number that allows someone to use FamilySearch.org on behalf of someone else.

People who already have an account on FamilySearch.org can see or edit their helper number in settings.

Note: Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have a default helper access number, which is the last 5 characters of their membership record number. You can use this default number to help Church members who do not have LDS Accounts.

Stop Helping Others

Sarah Blackham Kemp & Charles Kemp

··

CHARLES KEMP
AND
SARAH BLACKHAM
CHARLES KEMP
The fourth child of twelve children born to John Kemp and Ann Ferniough
BORN: 28 October 1831
PLACE: Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, England
BAPTIZED: 30 December 1848 by Thomas Jackson Schofield at the age of seventeen
PLACE: While living at Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, England
CONFIRMED: 31 December 1848 by John Lee at the Manchester conference
ORDAINED A PRIEST: In the spring of 1850 by Elder Hughes
ORDAINED AN ELDER: In the fall of 1850 by James Whitworth
MARRIED: 6 February 1850 to Adelaide (Sarah) Prestwich in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, England
CROSSED THE OCEAN: 15 February 1853 aboard the ship “Elvira Owen”
CROSSED THE PLAINS: In 1853 with the Cyrus H. Wheelock Company
ORDAINED A SEVENTY: In 1857 by Jacob Gates
MARRIED: 27 December 1857 to Sarah Blackham in Nephi, Sanpete County, Utah
ENDOWED:
SEALED:
DIED: 13 October 1905 at the age of 73
PLACE: Moroni, Sanpete County, Utah
BURIED:
PLACE: Moroni City Cemetery, Sanpete County, Utah
SARAH BLACKHAM
The sixth of seven children born to Samuel Blackham and Martha Robinson
BORN: 24 June 1840
PLACE: Heaton Norris, Stockport, Lancashire, England
BAPTIZED: 6 December 1852 by C. H. Wheelock
PLACE: While living in the Ashton-under-Lyne district near Liverpool, England.
CONFIRMED: 7 December 1852 by C. H. Wheelock
CROSSED THE OCEAN: Aboard the ship “Horizon” in 1856
CROSSED THE PLAINS: In 1856 with the Martin Handcart Company
MARRIED: 27 December 1857 to Charles Kemp in Nephi, Juab County, Utah when Sarah was 17 and Charles 26 years old
ENDOWED: 27 December 1861 in the Endowment House
SEALED: 27 December 1861 to Charles Kemp in the Endowment House
DIED: 20 October 1899 at the age of 59
PLACE: Moroni, Sanpete County, Utah
BURIED: 22 October 1899
PLACE: Moroni City Cemetery, Sanpete County, Utah
CHILDREN:
1) WIFE: Adelaide (Sarah) Prestwich, born??? (buried in Nephi, Sanpete, Utah)
Alice Ann Kemp, born 5 November 1854 in Nephi, Sanpete, Utah (died at 20 months of age)
2) WIFE: Sarah Blackham, born 24 June 1840
Child, born 1 September 1858 in Nephi, Sanpete, Utah (died at childbirth)
Charles Kemp Jr., born 14 September 1859 in Nephi, Sanpete, Utah
Martha Ann Kemp, born 4 June 1861 in Moroni, Sanpete, Utah (died at 17.5 years of age)
Jesse Kemp, born 21 April 1863 in Moroni, Sanpete, Utah
Seth Kemp, born 23 March 1865 in Moroni, Sanpete, Utah
Mary Kemp, born 14 April 1867 in Moroni, Sanpete, Utah
Sarah Jane Kemp, born 10 October 1869 in Moroni, Sanpete, Utah
Olive Kemp, born 3 February 1872 in Moroni, Sanpete, Utah
Elizabeth Kemp, born 25 September 1874 in Moroni, Sanpete, Utah
Hannah Kemp, born 9 January 1877 in Moroni, Sanpete, Utah
Maude Kemp, born 2 July 1879 in Moroni, Sanpete, Utah
William Leonard Kemp, born 27 February 1884 in Moroni, Sanpete, Utah (died at nearly 2 years of age)
LIFE SKETCH:
Compiled and written by June Peterson Houck, granddaughter of Charles and Sarah Kemp. Information came from her mother, Hannah Kemp Peterson. Hannah was blind but lived into her ninety’s and was the last member of the Kemp family to die.
Copied by Sherry Stewart Allan in 1984 of Sarah Jane Kemp Morley.
Edited in 2002-2003 by Blackham family reunion committee.
Charles Kemp was the fourth child of twelve children born to John Kemp and Ann Ferniough. He was born 28 October 1831 in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, England.
Charles was an exceptionally bright boy and attended school all day until he became six years of age. He then started to work for a half day, attending school the other half until he was thirteen. He was taken out of school and placed in his Uncles' shop “The Victoria Iron Works” to become an apprentice and learn the business. He worked for his three uncles, Charles, John and James Ferniough for seven years in this industry.
When he was first brought to the shop to learn the trade, the foreman, fearing for his job should Charles learn too quickly, used him as an “errand boy” and “odd job man” rather than teach or let him learn the business as it was intended. However, one of his Uncles came in and asked for Charles and was told that he had been sent on an errand. His Uncle became very irate and told the foreman that his nephew had been sent to them to learn a trade and not to become an “errand boy”. Should this ever happen again, where Charles was not being taught what he had been sent to learn, the foreman or anyone else responsible would most assuredly lose his job!
Charles was a very trustworthy and dependable boy. At the end of his apprenticeship he was the one chosen to do the “out-of-town” jobs because it would be done to satisfaction and at a minimum of time spent in doing it. Charles was very honest minded and worked a fair days work even though he had no one keeping watch over him. The benefactors of Charles' work were often so well pleased with his work that they showered him with cigars and tobacco to show their pleasure. He gave these gifts to his Uncles upon his return, as he had become interested in the LDS Religion and did not smoke.
Charles was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 30 December 1848 at the age of seventeen by Elder Thomas Jackson Schofield. Elder John Lee confirmed him the following day at the Manchester Conference for the Ashton Branch. He was ordained a Priest in the spring of 1850 by Elder Hughes and in the fall of the same year was ordained to the office of Elder by Elder James Whitworth. After receiving this last ordination, he was asked to preside over the Hyde Branch of the Manchester Conference, which was held in September of 1852.
In the meanwhile, Charles had met a young lady by the name of Adelaide (Sarah) Prestwich who was baptized at the same time as he. Their interest and love grew in the Church as well as personally and on 6 February 1853 they became husband and wife at Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, England. Nine days later, on 15 Feb 1853, they set sail for America from Liverpool on the ship “Elvira Owen” under the leadership of Elder Joseph W. Young, son of Lorenzo and nephew of Brigham Young. There were 345 souls aboard and they landed at New Orleans, Louisiana, America.
Adelaide was made a stewardess of the ships company from England to New Orleans where they then boarded the steamboat “James Robb” to journey up the Mississippi, to St Louis. They again changed to the steamboat “Divernon” in order to continue up the river to Keokuk, Iowa. Charles was made a captain of ten men in Elder Cyrus H. Wheelock's Ten Pound Company. They camped about seven weeks at Keokuk then commenced their journey over the Iowa plains and on through to Utah. This was the same ship and company that James Blackham came to America with. Could it be that this is where Charles started getting to know the Blackham family? Charles and Addie, with the rest of the company arrived in Salt Lake City, 6 October 1853. They were picked to help settle Nephi 20 October 1853 where their little girl Alice Ann was born 5 November 1854.
Early in 1856 Addie became gravely ill and died 12 July 1856. Alice Ann followed her mother in death just two weeks later on the 27th. She was one year eight months and twenty-two days old, and her Mother only twenty-five.
Charles was a lost and lonely man at their parting. Five months later, in December 1856, Martha Blackham and her children arrived from England and came to help settle Nephi. Charles was part of the welcoming committee to the new settlers and in this way Charles became acquainted. Martha was such a comforting sort of person to be with that Charles took to going over to her house regularly to visit. She helped to ease his pain and seemed to take the place of the Mother he had left in England. She became very dear to him and he began to look forward to their visits almost every evening where Martha and her sons, Samuel and Thomas, helped him forget his sorrow for a while and he was momentarily happy. Martha’s other sons, John and James, had immigrated earlier. John was living in Salt Lake City and James was living in Fillmore.
Elder Jacob Gates ordained Charles to the office of Seventy in 1857. In that same year Martha’s daughter, Sarah, who had been working in Fillmore for a Bishop Croft and family, returned home to join her mother and brothers for the Thanksgiving holiday. James and his family were possibly with Sarah coming from Fillmore. James’ wife, Harriet, had a child in Nephi in 1858. It was at this time at Martha's house that Charles first met Sarah Blackham. It was her first reunion with her family since arriving from England. Sarah, her mother and two brothers, Thomas and Samuel, had come across the plains with the ill-fated Martin Handcart Company.
In 1848 the Blackham family was living in the Ashton-Under-Lyne district and lived on Hertford Street, Walkmill, Audenshaw in England. It was here that the family began to embrace the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Martha was the first of her family to join the church on the 23rd of May 1848. She was baptized by John Lee and confirmed on 26 May 1848 by John Albiston Jr. James followed her by being baptized on the 22nd of October 1848. He was baptized by John Lee and confirmed 25 October 1848 also by John Lee. The following year, the oldest son, John, joined the church on 28 April 1849, baptized by Thomas Jackson Schofield. John Albiston Jr. confirmed John on 29 April 1849. Samuel joined the church next on 28 January 1850, baptized by T.J. Schofield. T.J. Schofield also confirmed him on 3 February 1850. According to records, Thomas was the next to join the Church on 8 July 1852. He was baptized by John Blackham and confirmed by George Lindley on 20 July 1852. Sarah, the youngest daughter, joined the Church on 6 December 1852, baptized by C. H. Wheelock. She also confirmed by C. H. Wheelock on 7 December 1852. Father Samuel did not join the church and would be left a lone man in England.
Charles was smitten by Sarah’s beauty. He said she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen and had the fairest skin of any girl he had ever known. She had thick masses of dark brown hair, beautiful brown eyes, was of medium height and according to him "very well built! "
Sarah had another beau at this time and for her special benefit he had bought a span of horses and a fancy sleigh to impress her with. He went to pick her up for the date he had pre-arranged with her for Thanksgiving evening. However, when he called for Sarah there sat Charles who answered for Sarah when her other young man asked if she was ready and would like to go riding. Charles responded, "Yes, you bet! Sarah and I would love to ride with you." Whereupon, Charles helped Sarah into the back seat of the sleigh and promptly seated himself beside her. This left the bewildered young swain no alternative but to drive the sleigh un-accompanied in the front seat. Charles gave Sarah no time for anyone else from that moment on and literally swept poor Sarah off her feet. He persuaded her to become his wife two days after Christmas on the 27th of December 1857, just one short month to the day after they had met.
They had a baby daughter on 1 September 1858 who died the same day. They were prostrate with grief. A neighbor, who had just been made a father that same day, came to them with a sad story of his own. His baby daughter was still alive but he didn’t know for how long because his wife had died giving birth. He pleaded with Sarah and Charles to take his little girl as their own and told them he would even give them papers giving up all rights to the child if Sarah would only do this for him. Because she did not wish to take a baby away from its rightful parent, Sarah and Charles talked it over with him at length. Should she do this thing, she knew she would grow to love that baby as her own and it would most certainly break her heart should she take the baby and then have to give her up. The young father was so sincere in his desire that Charles and Sarah decided to take the child and raise her as their own. Sarah would not permit the father to sign any papers as he had stated he would do.
The following year, 1859, Sarah and Charles along with Martha and all of her sons and their families, were called to help settle Moroni, Utah. It was while they were driving along in the wagon, that Sarah had Charles stop as they approached the Duck Springs area of Moroni. Sarah gazed out over the wide expanse of prairie that held nothing but sagebrush as far as the eye could see and said, "Home, home, this is home!" She felt a great love for this barren land that was to become her permanent home. They camped their wagon on the banks of the Sanpitch River and it was here that their second child, Charles Jr., was born 14 September 1859. Charles Jr. was the second child to be born in Moroni. Sarah's brother, John, and his wife, Susannah, were the parents of the first child to be born there 8 August 1859 named John Blackham Jr.
After their baby had become a few months old, the new settlers finally completed a fort for all of the townspeople to move into until hostilities with the Indians calmed down. It was here at the fort that Charles and Sarah received a visitor, a man newly married and on his way to help settle Dixie. It was a place that seemed almost off the face of the earth to Sarah and Charles at that time, because this man was the natural father of their little girl. He had come to claim her now that the danger of losing her was over because he had married someone else to care for his baby. He had forgotten his promises to Sarah and Charles and because they had not accepted any papers on the child, they could do nothing but give her up. It was one of the hardest things that Sarah was called to do in her lifetime and she carried a picture of the child with her to her grave. Her little girl was two and half years old and had never seen or heard from her father until that day when he came to take her with him. She screamed and cried, trying to pull away from him, reaching for Charles and sobbing, "You bad mans, go 'way! I want my own Daddy." Apparently the little girl never forgot those tragic moments either. The first opportunity she had of renewing acquaintances with the first mother she had known was when she had become a young mother of two little girls herself. She and her husband were on their way to live in Canada. She came especially to Moroni to see them and find out a little more about these two wonderful people that were, even then, vivid in her mind because of that episode.
While Charles and Sarah lived at the fort in Moroni, they had two more children, Martha Ann, and Jesse. Soon after, the settlers were allowed to start building their individual homes on the lots that had been apportioned to them. Charles erected a one-room log cabin attached to a one-room adobe brick. This two-room dwelling remained their home until the rest of their twelve children were born. Seth, Mary, Sarah Jane, Olive, Elizabeth, Hannah, Maude and William Leonard. It was also while living in this abode that an Indian buck named Greenblanket tried to steal Sarah's baby, Sarah Jane, who was asleep in her crib. Charles was away on picket duty watching for Indians to keep them away from the settlement. However, this Indian buck stole down through the mountains and sneaked into town. Sarah was doing dishes with her back to the room when she saw a shadow pass the wall. Thinking it to be one of her older children, she did not turn around until it passed again. Then she turned to speak and discovered Greenblanket with her baby in his arms. She jumped for an old musket that was hanging on the wall, which was so rusty that she knew it would not shoot and she did not know when it had last been fired. Never the less, she pointed it at the Indian and ordered him to put her papoose down or she would blow his brains out! He quickly said, “No shoot! No shoot! You brave wino squaw!” and put the baby back (wino means good).
She was just finishing her dishes when the nearest neighbor living a block or more away came running and screaming, "Sister Kemp, Sister Kemp, old Greenblanket has taken my baby!" To this outcry Sarah again snatched for the musket and went with her neighbor to try and ward off Greenblanket. They met him just as he was coming back over the hill on his way out of town headed to the mountains. Sarah again pointed the gun at him ordering him to give that papoose back to its mother. He muttered and said, "This not your papoose, " to which she quickly replied, "No and it is not yours either. You give it back, or God help me you'll die!"
Well, he did as she ordered but he sure didn't like it. Later that same day, Greenblanket with six other young bucks came back with war paint allover their bodies. They entered the cabin unheard and surrounded Sarah. Greenblanket then said, "Now you 'fraid?"
Sarah prayed silently that God would give her strength and courage to disburse them. It seemed that she immediately felt so strong that she had no fear in her. Feeling that she could have even faced the most savage of beasts, she replied, "No I'm not afraid, and if my buck comes in and finds you here, it won't be good for you." They looked at her and said, "Where you buck?" She answered, "Out there."
Inclining her head toward the barn and making them believe that Charles was close by, all of the Indians went outside and peered toward the barn and talked among themselves a moment or two. Apparently they decided that this was no place for them, after all, and left as quickly and silently as they had come. After they had gone, Sarah went as weak as a kitten. She realized with full clarity what they might and would have done to her had she been afraid and now knew more than ever how much God had blessed them there in the wilderness.
It was just after Leonard was born on 27 February 1884 that Charles began construction on a new and much larger house. It would even have accommodations for his beloved mother in law, Martha Robinson Blackham, to live with them. This house became a home of cherished memories for many people. All the friends and relatives of the entire family remembered and spoke lovingly of the wonderful times that had been shared there long after the entire family had married and moved away.
Charles was away so much of the time that he hired most of his work to be done. He tried to obtain the latest and best equipment for his family that was available. Charles hired a carpenter to take care of all the finishing details of their new home, such as roof, floors, windows, doors, etc., and paid him in full for it to be done by the time he should arrive home from his forthcoming trip. The money was accepted but the work was never done, at least not by the carpenter.
Charles and his boys even down to baby Leonard who was not yet two, put the roof on and took care of the carpentering. Leonard was not to see the finishing of that house as God called him home when he was just 18 days away of becoming two years of age. He helped shingle the roof and as he would climb the ladder Sarah would stand below with her apron spread, fearful for her darling. But he never fell and he hammered his nails true and the whole family was so very fond of him.
Another time, Charles paid a painter to paint his house and purchased the paint for the man before leaving on another trip. After the painter received payments for his services to be rendered, his services never got rendered and the paint dried out and had to be thrown away.
Charles gave people work to earn money that they otherwise could not have because there was not much money in Moroni. Most of its citizens were farmers and raised all of their own produce to trade for a living. Andrew Anderson, President of the Co-op Store in Moroni, stated that Charles Kemp brought more money to the town than all the rest of the townspeople put together.
Because Charles was such a traveling man and brought so much business to the railroads by bringing in machinery and other items for the mills he was constructing, they extended the courtesy of giving him travelers mileage checks. These checks gave a huge discount and allowed Charles to pay a small percentage by mile instead of an over all fee. Whenever he completed putting up a mill in any town, he would send one or two of his millers that he kept on his payroll to stay with the new owners until they understood how to manage. Charles hired seven of these men. Three were from Mt. Pleasant, two from Ephraim and two from Wales. They started the mills up all through the country that he had constructed. Charles had flourmills and molasses mills throughout Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. In Sanpete County alone, he constructed mills in Fairview, Mt. Pleasant, Ephraim, Fountain Green and Moroni. For any of these mills he answered all calls for help and stayed with them until things were again running smoothly.
It was in Mt. Pleasant, that Charles introduced the first electricity that could be run by waterpower in Utah. He talked about it for years before he could persuade the citizens that the same energy operating their flourmills could produce enough electricity for lighting purposes. At first he was called "Columbus" until he demonstrated and showed them that he was correct. Engineers from Salt Lake City then went to inspect the electric plant in Mt. Pleasant. They too found it much more sensible and economical to produce electricity by waterpower than by steam engine, which was then employed.
Charles Kemp was a humble man. Many of his customers failed to pay him for the new mills and some of these men held quite high positions in the Church. Charles, however, trusted everyone and used to say to his family, "Have trust and faith in your fellow man. Give him the benefit of every doubt." His motto was, “Nay speak no ill.” Should he happen upon anyone quarreling or saying unkind things to one another, he would often repeat the words of this song, "Let us all speak kind words to each other, kind words are sweet tones of the heart." He taught his family that even if one of them should sometime discover the type of person he or she could not think of anything kind to say about, they were to say nothing at all.
He practiced as he preached. One day he gathered to himself thousands of dollars of promissory notes given to him for those mills he had turned over but received no money for. He took those notes and commenced to burn them. When Sarah saw what he was doing, she began to cry and asked, "Why don't you take these men to trial? It is taking bread out of your children's mouths." Charles replied, “No Sarah. The brethren that owe me know what they owe, and God knows that I am not living for just this life alone, but for a higher exaltation.”
Charles was always neat of appearance, whether in work clothes or dress. He would turn the collars of his work shirts under and, in their place, wore a stiff white collar and was never without a tie. At conference time his lot would be filled with wagons, buggies and carts while the animals that had pulled these conveyances would be housed in his barn along with others that had brought their masters on horse back. Neither he nor Sarah ever turned anyone away from their door, but fed and housed them as well as their livestock. They were allowed to stay for as long as they cared to without ever a thought of being charged a penny for such kindly deeds and services.
Charles' thoughtfulness for his family was ever present. He always said, "The best is none too good, whatever you buy!" He purchased a #8 Monitor stove that came equipped with a reservoir that ran across the back of the stove, which could heat as much as two buckets of water at one time. It was the first of its kind in Moroni and everyone thought it was a miracle to be able to have enough hot water instead of only what could be heated in a teakettle.
A couple of years later, however, he gave this beauty to his daughter, Lizzie, who was then married. Charles installed a wonderful Majestic range that had a larger copper reservoir that would hold as much as six buckets of water at a time, a miracle never before heard of. This was purchased while Sarah was in Salt Lake to surprise her on her return home. Also, for the convenience of the family, he purchased the largest and best pump that could be bought and had it installed at the edge of the porch, away from the well. It was the talk of Moroni.
He purchased the first sewing machine and the first wringer to be installed on the wooden tubs. It was best available washing receptacle in those days. He hired a widow, Margaret Curtis, to do the washing even though his own girls were big enough to attend to such details. The girls had their own tasks to perform and no one was idle by any means. He then purchased the first washing machine to be seen in Moroni or surrounding vicinities and this indeed beat all imagination. Of course it had to be turned by hand, but what an invention!
Charles was not only a good provider but also a most wonderful and dear husband and father. He always had time for questions and council, never showing by appearance or manner that he was vexed in any way. He was always ever mindful of Sarah and cautioned his children that their mother was not well and that they should each relieve her of any and every menial responsibility. Because of his wonderful guidance and teaching his children were well educated at home and at school.
Charles and Sarah’s children were talented and seemed mechanically inclined. They were taught to do the job well and to be dependable whenever called upon in service. They performed with a willingness and charm that reflected their kindly parents.
His daughter, Olive, became a most sought after seamstress; her sewing was painstakingly beautiful and they were true works of art. Martha Ann learned to play the organ on the first organ brought to Moroni. Her teacher found her such an apt pupil that he many times would ask her to teach his class when he was unable to be there. This she did with grace and charm. She also was the organist for Sunday school and Sacrament Meetings. Martha Ann held this position until her untimely death at the tender age of seventeen and one half years.
Charles loved children dearly, showing such tender patience and love for the little ones. Many times he would be going on business when children from all sides would run to ask, "Brother Kemp, can we come too?” He always replied, "Yes, hop in. The more the merrier!" Other townspeople, seeing him on his return journey, often made the remark, "Brother Kemp you've got more children there than load." To which he quickly said, "Yes sir! I've got Utah's best crop."
He was taking three of his grandchildren for a ride one day, when they came to a place called the Narrows, a place so narrow that it was impossible to even turn a buggy around. He was deep in thought and concentration at getting through safely, when he was jolted out of his state of mind by three-year-old Austin Morley, shaking his sleeve and saying, "Grandpa, Look at Ethel!" There was no Ethel to be seen and Charles promptly asked the boy where she was. Austin pointed to a little mound of dust in the distance behind them saying, "That’s her!" His Grandpa stopped the buggy quickly and informed three-year-old Austin to watch the baby, Adie, who was yet too small to walk, and to stay here and be a good boy! Then he hurriedly ran back toward the little mound of dust. After he had gotten the dirt out of Ethel’s' mouth and was brushing her off she said, "Grandpa, look at Austin!" There was Austin, whipping at the horse and buggy calling, “Giddap.”
Well, Charles had to leave Ethel and run after the horse and buggy with its precious occupants, yelling, “Whoa! Whoa!” to the top of his voice. As it happened, the horse was a very gentle horse, or there might have been another sorrier tale to tell. The horse obeyed Charles’ command but Ethel, fearing that her grandfather was again leaving her, ran after him screaming with all her might and main. When Charles finally reached the boy he said, "I thought I told you to stay here and be a good boy." But Austin only said, "But grandpa, I could just as well be driving on as not." Ethel had fallen out of the buggy as she bent over to tie her shoe and they had hit a little swerve in the road, tossing her out. It was decided that none of them would mention this incident on arriving home but Austin soon forgot. As soon as he saw his mother, Sara Jane, he couldn't tell her fast enough that Ethel had fallen out of the buggy! Well, Charles was suddenly nowhere to be found.
He had a compassion for every living thing, animals as well as people. One day when his brother-in-law, Jim Blackham, was over visiting, Charles saw Jim's horse and buggy out by the gate. The horse was so thin, old and tired looking that Charles told Jim, "Unhitch that poor animal from that buggy and set her loose in the stack yards and I'll give you a younger and more capable horse for your needs." This he did and then he proceeded to feed Jim’s horse bran mash and gathered Lucerne leaves to put in the mash also in order to fatten her up a little more and make her a little healthier. Her trouble was her teeth were too long. She was unable to chew or even eat hay. Charles took it upon himself to feed her personally with no intention of letting her work anymore but instead, to live at leisure to run and roam as she chose in the yards.
One of the first things Charles did on arriving home from any of his business trips was to stop off at the tithing office to settle up. He was fastidious at paying his tithes and taught his boys to gather a tenth of every bit of produce that was grown as well to turn in. He instructed them not to take them as they were counted off, but to pick the finest of produce to give to the Lord. This he taught was altogether fitting. His daughter, Hannah, was their tenth child and in order to get her as a child to perform some duty not entirely to her liking, her mother would say, "Well I guess we'll have to turn Hannah in for tithing." This brought the desired results in a hurry! Hannah knew what her father's sentiments were regarding this commandment.
Once, when Seth was a baby, he became very ill. Sarah had to carry him around on a pillow whenever she picked him up. She had not even been able to take her clothes off for retiring in over a week. Her neighbor, Sister Irons who was the Bishop's wife, came over to help. She insisted that Sarah go in and rest even if she couldn't sleep and she would watch the baby. Sarah reluctantly let her mother and Sister Irons talk her into relaxing just a little, but while she rested it was almost as a voice spoke to her and yet there was no sound, "Go to your baby!" She paid no heed. Then it seemed to come a second time, "Go to your baby, or you'll be sorry!" She answered out loud, "I will!" Her startled mother asked, "What did you say?” As she headed directly for her baby, Sarah hurriedly repeated for Martha the impressions she had received. Sister Irons was closing the baby’s eyes and pinching his nose together as they used to do when people were dying. Sarah thrust her neighbor aside and said, "Here, if that's what you've come to do, you can get out!" Sister Irons was most saddened and said, "Dear Sarah, he's dying, and I could see that he was, so I asked you to go rest because I wanted to spare you as much pain as possible under the circumstances.”
Sarah refused to believe this and sent for another neighbor, Brother Thomas, to come quickly and administer to her baby. As he stepped into her house, he sniffed the air and asked, "Sister Kemp, do you smell death in this house?" She quickly answered: "No! No! No!" Brother Thomas said, "Neither do I”, and he gave the baby a most wonderful blessing, "As the Mother's faith is, so it shall be!" From that time on Seth became stronger and stronger until he was eventually completely well.
Soon after they were gone, Sarah was talking to her mother and said, "Charles is on his way home." Martha questioned her daughter as to how she could possibly know this when there was no way that messages could be sent through in those days. Sarah answered, "Because I can see him coming as though a panoramic vision has been opened in front of my eyes. Charles has secured a ride with a stranger who is coming this way in a buckboard. Wait a minute mother; Charles has asked the driver if he will stop the buckboard for a few minutes there in the wilderness. A lone tree is standing a short distance away and Charles has descended the buckboard and is walking toward that tree. Now he is kneeling in prayer for us here at home that all may be well until he arrives. Now he is returning to the buckboard and they have once more resumed their journey, and I know now that everything will be all right."
Charles had been building a new mill in Dixie (Southern Utah) when he received a strong impression that he was needed at home. For the first time in his life he left the completion of the mill in the hands of the engineers. He secured a ride from the first person he could locate that was headed north. Even though the new proprietors did not like his leaving, nothing could induce him to stay because this feeling was too strong for him to disregard. When he arrived home he was asked in front of witnesses if what Sarah had seen did actually happen? He was amazed, because every detail was correct.
Every Thanksgiving and Christmas Sarah used to send her four youngest daughters, Olive, Elizabeth, Hannah and Maud, to deliver generous portions of meat and food to many of the needy families in town. Sarah felt that this food would be put to good use but her girls protested, feeling that everyone would poke fun at them for taking these baskets around. At their young age they did not realize what a kindly thought and deed it was for their mother to do. Sarah said she would never be able to enjoy a bite of her own holiday dinner if she knew there was one single soul in town who would be hungry so she insisted and was firm that they follow her instructions. A brother Gee did remark one time; "Well sister Kemp, what do you expect to get out of doing deeds like this, because you understand it, if from the books you shall be judged!" Sarah replied that she didn't know anything about that, but she was not looking to have it appear in any books or to receive credit of any kind. “I only want to be able to live with myself,” was her comment.
Sarah's patriarchal blessing informed her that during her lifetime, she had entertained angels unawares. She was a most wonderful woman and the light seemed to leave the house at her passing which, until her death the 20th October 1899, was a gathering place for young and old alike who seemed drawn like magnets in her presence. Everyone loved the warmth and cheer Sarah seemed to radiate at all times. There was never nearly so much fun as when she was present, joining in gaiety that always permeated from the Kemp home as long as she was alive. There are many fond memories from all who visited that home and it is thought of only with love by all who had the opportunity of living or visiting or playing there.
After the loss of their beloved Sarah, Hannah kept house for her father and brothers. She married Stephen M. Peterson 22 July 1903, but he left two weeks later for a mission to Norway. Stephen was called home from his mission in October 1905 to care for his seriously ill brother, Andrew, who was dying of cancer and was in the last stages.
Charles Kemp attended conference in Salt Lake October of 1905 and his ticket was good until the fifteenth. His daughters, Mary, and Maude, who were living in Salt Lake, were trying to get him to stay for the maximum time. He had decided to return home on the twelfth but, with their pleading along with his desire to be home, he said he felt similar to a donkey between two haystacks and didn't know which to take a bite of first. At last, however, home won out and he arrived three days earlier than his ticket was dated for. Mary and Maude gave Charles an oval can of kippered herring and some dried beef to take home with him. The rest of his family had all come home three days previous in order to greet their sweet father as he got off the train, thinking he would arrive even earlier than he did. They were very disappointed, however, when each day went by and still their father hadn't come. Nevertheless, Hannah prepared a lovely meal with a large roast for their dinner the evening of the twelfth and when Charles came in sight, such glad tidings were shared by all. As the family sat down to eat, Charles asked Hannah where the herring and dried beef were that Maude and Mary had given him. Hannah told him that she hadn't thought he would want any with the large dinner she had already prepared. To this he replied, "Must I wait until I die before you serve me any?" At this remark, she laughingly said, "My goodness no. I don't want you to die before you get some," and brought it out right away.
After dinner, Charles had so many messages to deliver to the townspeople that he left the house directly to relate the messages from the loved ones in Salt Lake. Later that evening Hannah saw him and he looked so tired that she tried to prevail upon him to wait another day before delivering the rest. He firmly told her, "No, I only have a few more, and then I'll be through," refusing to stop until all the messages had been delivered. That evening, before retiring, Hannah went in to place another quilt on her father's bed as it had turned a little chilly and she felt he needed the extra warmth.
The next morning, October 13th, as she and Stephen came downstairs just before 7:00 A.M., they looked in on the beloved father and father in law and Hannah remarked to her husband, “Isn't it wonderful. He usually rises at 4:00 A.M. except on very rare occasions when he would be unusually tired and then he sometimes would wait until I had breakfast ready before arising.”
Stephen told Hannah that he would go over to Chris Petersons', who was soon to leave on a mission and was desirous of trading a wagon for Stephen's steamer trunk. His main purpose in going, however, was to get a little fresh air to whet his appetite. With the grave illness of his brother and the stench that permeates the surroundings where cancer is prevalent, he had no inclination to eat breakfast.
Jesse was next to come downstairs, asking, "Is father up yet?” Hannah told him no and to get some wood to make a fire with while she cleared the kitchen table from the stack of dishes that had been left from the night before. After a while, Jesse came back with a big pile of wood and asked again, "Isn't father up yet?" Hannah had been so busy straightening up that she had failed to notice the time when Jesse asked this question the second time. She had a peculiar feeling come over her as she answered, "No, I think I'll go call him." As she looked in upon her father, he seemed to be sleeping so peacefully that she hesitated to awaken him and turned to go out. As her hand touched the doorknob, the thought struck her fully, “What if he is dead?” She quickly brushed this thought aside and said, “Of course he isn't!” Never the less, she went over and called him and when he didn't respond she cupped his face in her hands and then she knew. Realizing at the time that his position wasn't even changed from the last time she had seen him, she cried out, "Oh Jesse, he's dead! "
Jesse rushed out of the house and encountered Olive on her way to the house as she told her about her father. Someone passing by on horseback offered to go for the doctor and when the doctor came he said, "Charles must have been dead for about twenty minutes."
Seth at this time was out thrashing for a man who lived out Chester way. He awakened from sleep about 6:00 A.M. and sat straight up in bed saying, “Pa, what's the matter?” His cousin, Willard Blackham, shared the same tent with Seth and asked him if he was talking in his sleep. Seth said, “No. There is father in his vest and shirtsleeves and he is bare head. What's wrong?” Then Charles Kemp disappeared. Seth knew something was wrong at home and left immediately to find out what was the matter. Upon his arrival he received the sad news that took a light out of their lives the 13th of October 1905.
We would also like to note: Charles was sent for along with all the other able bodied young men in Utah to go to Echo Canyon to help toward the invasion of colonel Johnston's army on the pioneers. Brigham Young said they were to do it without bloodshed but to halt them even if boulders had to be dropped on the provisions as they passed through the narrow canyon. It was early in 1858 just after Charles was married. The pioneers burned many of the wagons and drove off the army’s cattle, etc. Afterwards, Charles Kemp and Dan Cook stripped the iron off the wheels of the wagons and Charles constructed a wooden lathe on which he and Dan Cook turned out the first nails to be used in Utah. Charles also built the first blacksmith shop in Moroni and Dan cook built the second.
A truer family never lived or we're more proud of their heritage. Charles and Sarah Kemp, thank you for this inspiration.